MISSION — The Mission High Eagles continue to soar behind quarterback Jeremy Duran as they knocked out the San Benito Greyhounds 28-17 in the Class 6A bi-district round of the playoffs Friday at Tom Landry Stadium.
Duran continued to make his case as one of the premier quarterbacks in the Rio Grande Valley with another stellar night for Mission, throwing for 258 yards and, despite not getting a touchdown through the air, ended the night with three rushing scores.
Mission balanced its aerial attack with bruising runs from running back Andrew Maldonado, who carried the ball for 63 yards to go along with one touchdown.
The scoreless tie ended with 2:44 remaining during the first quarter, after the Eagles marched 55 yards down the field. Maldonado converted a critical fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive deep into Greyhounds territory, which eventually led to a Duran quarterback sneak from the 1 to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.
The Greyhounds responded instantly as defensive back Leo Fuentes took the kickoff 78 yards to the house to even the score at 7.
During the second quarter, Duran complete a 23 yard over-the-shoulder pass between two defenders to wide receiver Gilbert Bernal down the left sideline, being pushed out at the 1. Duran finished the drive with his second rushing TD of the night.
The Mission defense held San Benito to five straight three-and-outs as they only allowed 40 passing yards and 6 rushing yards during the first half as San Benito quarterback Elijah Hernandez faced constant pressure from the Mission front seven.
Coming out of halftime, Duran was firing on all cylinders hitting receiver Justin Duran for a 6-yard completion, tight end Joey Ortiz for a 17-yard catch and run and an 18-yard jump ball to receiver Joe Luis Cortez that put Mission at the 1 for the third time. Maldonado ran up the middle for a score to extend the Mission lead to 20-7.
The lead increased to 27-10 as Duran put the finishing touch on a night to remember scoring his third rushing TD with 3:31 left in the third.
San Benito scored a touchdown late to cut the lead to 27-18 with a run from running back Gavin Suarez with 9:53 to go in the fourth and converting the two-point conversion. However, it was too late as the Mission defense stymied the San Benito attack.
Mission will face Laredo United South in the second round of the 6A Division I playoffs. As Laredo United South received a first-round forfeit win due to positive cases of COVID-19 its opponent’s program.